Saturday, December 27, 2014

We've been cutting trees to make a little more open space. It's necessary. The garden and orchard don't get enough light to set fruit, the trees are closing in around the chicken coop, and we can't see the sunset. Born and raised in the desert, we still feel bad cutting down any trees.
For Christmas, Jason gave me a very thoughtful gift. Hand carved, by him, from one of those recently felled trees. A cedar spoon. It's lovely.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

This morning, I came downstairs and found Jackson watching Pokémon on the iPad. Totally normal.

-Mom, Mom! I'm watching this online!

=You're always online. What app are you using?

-No, I'm online. I was playing the Pokémon game, and I clicked something. It brought me to the internet and asked me "3×14=?" Then it let me watch!

So, OK. The battle to keep my kids' Internet habits clean or safe is ON. Honestly, I'm annoyed that the age checker gave him a 2nd grade math problem instead of "How old are you?" Because I think that might've bought me a couple of extra years before he learned that the answer to all difficult questions in the Universe is 42.

I won't be downloading any parental locks. I think it's folly to fight curiosity, and I do oppose sensorship. I guess we are due a lecture on appropriate Internet viewing. If you have tips, please share.

In the meantime, I'm going to go with 'if you see naked people, close your eyes and hit back-back back-back as fast as possible.'

But perhaps I should send Google a Thank You note for eliminating porn from its search results.